Smoltz still off his game as Red Sox drop another snoozer

AP PhotoJohn Smoltz yells after he gave up a solo home run to Michael Young in the sixth inning.

Editor's note: Hey, Dan here. With my nuptials to the lovely Miss Red Sox Monster, I will be away from the computer until further notice (most likely July 26).

That doesn't mean the magic will stop, however. A talented band of Red Sox bloggers will helping out in this space over the next few days, weighing in on everything from trade rumors to toilet humor. Well, maybe not the toilet humor. That's my specialty.

Were John Smoltz and Kevin Millwood to face each other during a usual 7:00 p.m. start, there would have been a slight chance of staying awake through the end. But with an 8:00 p.m. first pitch last night, there was virtually no way anyone was staying up past the seventh... least of all Smoltz and Millwood.

Smoltz played his usual game: a few strikeouts (5) and no walks. In typical fashion, he put a lot of balls in play early, and left it to the seven guys behind him to clean-up the mess (which worked out slightly better for the Red Sox than it did the Cubs last night).

With no home runs surrendered until the sixth inning, it wasn't the fact that Arlington has a short porch, or that balls seem to lift like a dang Black Hawk helicopter. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, the loss of playable foul territory cramped Smoltz's style, causing the team to drop the game, 6-3.

AP PhotoKevin Millwood on the mound: You are getting verrry sleepy.

The veteran righty has an obvious propensity to nibble around the strike zone (Lord knows he ain't doing it with his fastball anymore). With his command, he can sprinkle the balls in play all over the shallow field. Unfortunately for the future Hall of Famer, the pop-flies that would have been caught in a stadium with more foul ground were well out of reach in Arlington.

The 42-year-old showed his age in the sixth, giving up three monster shots in his final frame, the last of which inspired a good-old fashioned melee on the grass for the expelled leather. It's really quite hard not to laugh at nine hormone-ridden middle schoolers pummeling each other for a baseball on live television. Maybe that's what they do with the kids who used to shag the balls during the All-Star Homerun Derby when they're all grown up (which, let's admit, is really nothing more than a glorified suicide mission).

The Rangers ballpark doesn't lend itself well to Smoltz's style, and while the same could be said for his old teammate Kevin Millwood (3 strikeouts, 1 walk) - but at least he's had the practice. One aging fly-ball pitcher facing one of the most powerful line-ups in the Major Leagues in a hitter's ball park seems like a nightmare. It's not so bad when you've got two of them... unless, of course, you were planning on watching an interesting baseball game.